Drug syndicates in SW holiday towns smashed by new police unit

CRIME syndicates in the South-West got a rude awakening this week when a new police unit smashed down their doors.

The holiday towns of Margaret River, Dunsborough and Augusta were the latest areas to feel the force of the organised crime squad’s district response team this week.

After seizing firearms, ammunition, drugs and large sums of cash in several raids, police said the four day operation signalled that all parts of the state were on the team’s radar.

Eight people, six men and two women, have been charged with 43 offences as a result of the raids, codenamed Operation Trax.

The Sunday Times joined detectives on the four-day blitz, which was the third operation carried out by the team since its creation last September.

The team, made up of seven detectives, act on local intelligence from metropolitan and regional police on organised crime syndicates in their respective areas.

The squad are then called in to execute search warrants, seize any illegal items, lay charges and carry out further investigations.

Previous operations targeted Peel and Fremantle and led to the seizure of millions of dollars in drugs, cash and frozen assets, plus 27 firearms.

Serious and organised crime division Detective Inspector Chris Adams warned the team were poised to launch more operations in the Perth metropolitan area within a fortnight.

“The origins of organised crime syndicates starts in the suburbs and in regional WA and through trial and error, they graduate into complex syndicates,” Det-Insp Adams said.

“The organised crime squad district response team, in partnership with other police districts is to identify these syndicates and intervene at the earliest opportunity.

“This is what the hard working mums and dads in our community want to see. They want to see us come down hard on these people and that’s what we’re doing.”

This week’s blitz follows a seven day police operation last month across the South-West which netted nine firearms, more than 400g of methylamphetamine, 223 rounds of ammunition and vast amounts of stolen property such as computers and mobile phones.

South-West police district Superintendent Peter Hatch said this week’s action followed on from these earlier raids on “drug houses.”

“The organised crime squad district response team is certainly a very handy tentacle to have to target known drug dealers,” Supt-Hatch said.

“You don’t have to be the Mr Bigs to be targeted. People who grow, manufacture and supply drugs in the suburbs are a major focus for us. They can’t hide and they can’t remain anonymous forever.”